The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

By Ivonne Hernandez

 “St Paul expressed a wish to the Ephesians that, through the grace of the Father from Whom proceeds every gift, they should know the charity of Jesus Christ for men, "which surpasses all knowledge." He could not wish them anything holier, or better, or more important. To know the charity of Jesus Christ, to be filled with the fullness of it, that is the reign of God in man. And that reign is the fruit of devotion to the Heart of Jesus, living-----and loving us-----in the Most Blessed Sacrament. This devotion is the sovereign worship of love. It is the soul and center of all religion; for religion is merely the law, the virtue, and the perfection of love; and the Sacred Heart is the grace, the model, and the life of it.” [1] - St Peter Julian Eymard
 

Meditation:

When we speak of the human heart, we speak of a twofold reality.  We speak of the organ at the center of the body, which purifies and pumps the blood that flows through the whole body, and we speak of the hidden center of the human soul, the place of decision, the place of truth.  The heart “is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.” (CCC, 2563)  St Peter Julian tells us that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament is the “soul and center of all religion”. When we receive the Eucharist and allow His heart to transform ours, we can then become the heart of His mystical body, allowing His grace to flow to all its members.
Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30-31) The second commandment flows from the first.  If we love God with all our heart, if we respond to His love with love, he will change our hearts of stone and give us a new heart of flesh.  Loving God with all our heart means giving Him our whole heart. He wants our broken hardened hearts, so He can transform our wounds from sources of sin to sources of grace, for ourselves and for others. This new heart, this heart of flesh, this source of grace is really His own heart beating in us, dwelling within us, in the place of covenant.  This beautiful Most Sacred Heart, the model and life of love, is with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  We receive Him, we adore Him, we love Him and He transforms us into Himself.

“The unity of the Mystical Body produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: “From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice.” (CCC, 791)  We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, but what about His heart?  Jesus is the Head of His Mystical Body, and we, the Church, are the rest.  We must bring all of Him to the world. We must become that Heart, overflowing with His Blood, pumping His Grace to every part of the Body.  When circulation is cut off, the body gets diseased and a part has to be amputated if blood flow is not restored in time. By remaining united to the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are directly connected to the source of life, and, by remaining in Him and allowing Him to work through us, we can bring His love to our neighbor, who is really part of our own Body in Christ. 

 “May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment in all the Tabernacles of the world, even until the end of time. Amen.”
​(Prayer after Benediction of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament)
 
 


[1] Eymard, St Peter Julian. The Real Presence (p. 266). Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition. - St Peter Julian Eymard